I'm not going to make any claims for these things till I get them on (hopefully Saturday). But for your information the air forms the 'spring' element of the shock absorber. Damping itself is still controlled by oil.
Barry Edwards ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Fw: Fournales for Yamaha GTS1000 > In a message dated 10/29/01 8:23:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > << I would never claim to be an expert on suspension technology, but I can't > see how these shocks being air sprung makes adjustable damping unnecessary. > Anyone else have an opinion about this issue? >> > > > I do not know what they are claiming, but air as a suspension tuning > mechanism is not the best technology out there. Some of our engineer friends > can disect and correct as necessary to make themselves feel good, but > basically, as the volume of air decreases, the pressure squares. (or > something to that effect. In mechanics terms, it means air pressure is not > terribly linear in its damping curve. In layman's terms, it gets harsh really > quick. The damping is not as progressive as an oil damped shock. Oil damped > shocks, or the better ones, use a series of spring steel washers in varying > diameters and thicknesses to make up the "valving". Changing these washers is > how they adjust the damping characteristics of the shock. Also, as a general > rule, if you think about what the high tech guys of car racing are using, it > is generally safe to assume they are using what works best. They use gas > charged oil damped shocks. The gas charge, although it is a minor tuning > tool, is mainly to keep the oil from frothing. Hope this helps. > RSRBOB
